Lanier edges Highlands for 57-53 win

Published 3:59 pm, Monday, February 4, 2013

The Lanier High School boys basketball team seemed to breeze through most of the first-half of the District 28-4A season. The second half has proven to be a minefield for the Voks.

Entering the week last Saturday's game at Highlands High School, the Voks (24-5, 8-3) had lost two of their previous games. They were tested yet again and escaped with a 57-53 win over the determined Owls (13-15, 6-5), to avoid losing any ground in the district standings.

“We started off really well,” Lanier senior all-state player Martin Sanchez said of the season. “We haven't been playing as well lately. Right now, we're not playing as well as we need to for the playoffs. We need to step up our game to the next level.”

The Owls were fueled by a gutsy performance from senior Roland Love (21 points, seven rebounds, five assists).

"We did a few things different with it," Highlands coach Rufus Lott said of the zone. "Basically, we tried to take away their three-point shots as much as possible. I thought my kids did a good job. They came to play.”

Lanier led most of the way, but the pesky Owls refused to let the Voks get much separation, especially during an intense second half.

"We came up big in the final minutes," Sanchez said. "We really had to work hard today. You can't play like that every game (going down to the wire)."

Highlands, which had won four of its previous five games, tied it 45-45 with 3:49 remaining on a jumper from the left side by freshman DeMarcus Hartfield (13 points, three rebounds, two steals).

“He's a great kid,” Lott said. “He has a lot of athleticism. He reminds me a lot of (San Antonio Spurs swingman) Kawhi Leonard. He's actually got 3-point range, but he doesn't get many of those.”

Playing with four fouls, Lanier's Sanchez (20 points, five assists, two steals), after a brief rest, made a 3-pointer on an assist from Voks junior guard Louis Garza to give the Voks the lead.

The senior then drove the land and dished low to Rodrigo Garcia, who gave a shot fake and laid the ball in for a 50-45 advantage.

"We were all supposed to go down low," Garcia said of Lanier coach Rudy Bernal's strategy in the final minutes with three players living with four fouls.

"I really wanted the ball to come to me. I was trying to put the (game out of reach)."

Garcia (13 points, five rebounds, three steals) made another important basket in the Voks' stretch run. After Sanchez popped another 3-pointer and the Owls' Love drove coast-to-coast with a defensive rebound for a fast-break basket, Garza tried a running scoop shot in the lane.

He couldn't make it fall, but Garcia emerged from a crowd of Owls and scored on a put-back that gave Lanier a 55-49 lead with 53.5 seconds remaining.

“I wanted to play just the way we do in practice,” Garcia said. “I just wanted to use my skills, get in position and use my strength. I gave it everything I could. ”

Highlands senior Love, whom Lanier limited to three points in the first half, scored 10 points in the fourth quarter. He kept Highlands' hopes alive by making two free throws at the 45.8-second mark to cut Lanier's lead to four.

"He did a great job," Lott said. "Roland had a very good second half. He really settled (his teammates) down and executed pretty well."

The Owls closed within two less than 20 seconds later, when Jesus Torres rebounded a missed 3-point attempt and scored to make it 55-53.

Garza (10 points, four assists, three steals) closed the door by converting both ends of a one-and-one free-throw opportunity with 5.5 seconds on the clock. The Voks escaped with a 57-53 win.

"Rodrigo came up with some big buckets," Bernal said. "He had a little fumble-itis early in the game, but he just plays so hard all the time. Luckily, we were able to make some free throws at the end and pull through."

The Owls let Lanier know they wouldn't fade away by outscoring the Voks 16-9 in the third quarter.

"We lost five kids to grades, and three of them were postmen. We lost a 6-foot-3 or 6-4 kid, another 6-2 kid and a lanky 6-0 kid," Lott said. "We've actually just started to play to our potential the last seven games.”

Lanier had a 29-20 halftime lead, but Highlands responded, scoring the first eight points of the second half. Love made six of them on a pair of free throws, a driving layup and a steal he converted to a fast-break basket. Hartfield added a layup to the run.

"We haven't been playing well the last three or four weeks," Lanier coach Bernal said. "I put in a little zone press in practice this week and it gave them something they hadn't seen – and they struggled with it. But, still, we didn't get many points off it. At halftime, we should have been up 16-18 points.

“We came out in the third quarter, and let them right back in. They got all the foul calls. They were in the double-bonus in the third quarter and they were shooting free throws."

Sanchez made a cut and received an assist from Garza for a basket that preserved the Voks lead, extending it to 31-28 with 5:12 left in the third quarter. Hartfield, though, had an answer to get the Owls back within a point.

Experience, Sanchez said, has taught him how to play in foul trouble during pressure cookers like these. He drew his third foul in the third quarter and the fourth just 22 seconds into the final quarter, but remained in the lineup until the end (with only a short rest) to help his team win.

A Sanchez rebound basket and a 3-pointer by Garza gave Lanier a 36-30 edge, but a basket from Hartfield and a pair of free throws by Love had Highlands within two when the quarter ended.

“We were right there where we wanted to be," Lott said. “We just needed to make a few shots and get a few calls. There was a block-charge I thought we should have gotten, and I think it was a one- or two-point game at the time. They had lost momentum and that would have helped us.”

"They didn't play up on us like they did the first time," Bernal said, referring to the Voks' 64-58 win over Highlands Jan. 8. “Fortunately, our defense was able to keep us in the game until we figured it out."

Lanier forced 11 Highlands turnovers in the second quarter and finished the half with 15 of its own, compared to 19 for the Owls. In the final count, the Voks made 21 turnovers and Highlands committed 24.

The Owls were scheduled to play Tuesday at district-leading Brennan (30-2, 10-0) Tuesday and at Fox Tech (2-26, 0-11) 7:30 p.m. Friday.

The Voks were coming off an 84-59 loss to Brennan, No. 2 in the TABC Class 4A state rankings.Lanier was scheduled to play host to Fox Tech High School on Tuesday and travel to Brackenridge for a game at 7:30 p.m. Friday.